Quite a difference between Canadian Pacific and Canadian National.
Richard
Posted by PullmanCo (Member # 1138) on :
I could make jokes about EssPee, the Sunset and the Starlight, but I won't...
Posted by DonNadeau (Member # 61606) on :
Shocking, isn't it?
I guess we have to factor in that CP hosts only a tiny fraction of the miles the others do.
Am very much hoping that the rumors of CP willing to host the Canadian between Toronto and Winnipeg are true. That line is said to be very underutilized due to so much CP traffic being funneled via Chicago.
Any jokes re. EssPee, the Sunset & Starlight are most welcome!
Posted by yukon11 (Member # 2997) on :
I haven't heard the rumor, Don, regarding CP hosting the Canadian between Toronto and Winnipeg. Does that mean the VIA train could return to the former Winnipeg-Calgary-Vancouver (CP) route?
Richard
Posted by DonNadeau (Member # 61606) on :
No rumors of that.
Two problems pop up in my mind.
1) The Government of Canada strangely gave the Rocky Mountaineer a monopoly on service to Banff and Lake Louise, the stations that serve three national parks in that area, 2) The routing of most of CP's freight now goes Vancouver to Moose Jaw, well on the way to Winnipeg, then takes the now the old Soo Line, now part of CP, to Chicago. and 3) CP's freight business has been growing and now is turbocharged by CN's problems.
On the other hand, I once calculated that there's not much population difference between the CN and CP routes in western Canada.
I do hope that CP becomes host of Via in western Canada. Prior to Via I took the Canadian through Banff and it remains the most scenic route I've encountered in North America. The CP line along Lake Superior is also very scenic.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Back in the barn.
CP agreeing to host The Canadien? Wow who dreamed up that one.
VIA operations over the CP are, to my knowledge, confined to a remote area Sudbury, ON - White River, ON route.
Posted by yukon11 (Member # 2997) on :
I know that it would be prohibitive, economically speaking, but I wish the VIA train could figure out a way to run both Vanc-Jasp-Winnipeg (CN) northern route as well as Vanc-Banff-Calg-Winnipeg (CP) southerrn route. Currently, the northern route is just 3x/week; maybe the southern route could run on alternate days. The southern leg of the Rocky Mountaineer now terminates in Banff. It would be nice if one could pick up a VIA train from Banff to Winnipeg and vice versa.
There was a desire, a few years ago, by some Canadian politicians to allow the Canadian to be privatized, but I've not seen anything, since then, to suggest this possibility.
Richard
PS- Is the "Prestige Class", on the Canadian, still in operation? I wonder if it has been popular especially considering the cost.